Phoenician - Online Casino Review

Phoenician Casino

July 13, 2005

Overview

A few days ago I reviewed Nostalgia casino. Even though there's nothing on the site that states it, I know that they are related to Phoenician as they both have nearly identical information on their sites. That makes writing this review both easier and harder, as somehow I have to make everything I wrote a few days ago sound new and exciting again.

Phoenician has been with Microgaming since Jabuary 2005. Before they were with Real Time Gaming, and I was trying to find out through their customer service when the casino was open.

Nikki: Hello, how may I help you today?
you: when was this casino started?
Nikki: Phoenician casino was transferred to Microgaming software at the end of last year. Unfortunately, Im not aware of how long it was around prior to this Im sorry.
you: but i've been checking message boards and it seems to have been around years before
you: no one there can answer this question?
Nikki: Phoenician casino was running on different software prior to transferring to Microgaming software
you: right
you: so?
Nikki: If you have seen it on message boards prior to November last year then it was on Real Time Gaming software
you: i knew that
you: and it seems to have been on RTG for years
Nikki: I believe so
you: which doesn't tell me when it was opened
Nikki: I dont know of the history prior to it being transferred to Microgaming
you: ok - well thank you

As you can see, they didn't know. Apparently it was with RTG for years. The biggest clue I was able to find regarding the start of this casino was on a message board. They had a casino representative that would post bonuses and this person joined the message board in 2001. As such my guess is that the casino itself was started in 2001, switched at the end of last year to Microgaming, and as of 2005 started fresh.

They are licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada. Customers can reach their support through email and Live Chat. I realize this is rather weak, but to their defense the site states that emails will receive a response with 30 minutes. To their benefit you don't have to log in to their Live Chat, which I think is brilliant as logging in is really annoying. Their games have been audited monthly and posted by PriceWaterHouse Coopers starting from January 2005.

Deposits

Minimum deposit is $20. Players can deposit in $ US dollars, $ Canadian dollars, £ British pounds, and € Euros. They offer the typical range of deposit methods:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Diners Club Card
• Neteller
• Click2Pay
• Firepay
• Instadebit
• Citadel
• PaySpark
• UseMyBank
• Delta
• Eco Card

Credit cards have some limitations. Players can register a maximum of two cards per player and purchase limits on each registered card are refreshed back to $1000 weekly.

Withdrawals

Minimum withdrawal allowed is $30. Yes, the minimum deposit is $20 and the minimum withdrawal is $30. That means if you deposit $20 and change your mind you are up "caca" creek without a paddle. They will not give you your money back and you better hope that you win – because having over $30 is the only way you will be cashing out. I don't like it, but I don't make the rules.

The following are listed under their withdrawal options:

• Check
• Instadebit
• Click2Play
• Neteller – Any Un-certified accounts have a transaction limit of $250.00, however, certified Neteller accounts have a monthly transaction limit of $3000.00
• Visa – Where allowed card will be credited up to deposit amount
• MasterCard – Where allowed card will be credited up to deposit amount

All winnings from credit card will go back to via any method you prefer. There's a possible fee for the check, but it doesn't state what and it only mentions it briefly in the terms and conditions. There's no mention of fee on the withdrawal page. Also, as per all casinos these days, expect some serious documentation requirements before you receive your withdrawal request.

If you made your deposit through Citadel, FirePay or InstaDebit be patient with your withdrawal request: "Winnings may be held up to seven (7) days if purchases made to the same account have been processed through Citadel, InstaDebit or Firepay."

Terms and Conditions

These are some serious terms and conditions. The wording is really interesting because everything sounds so nice, but if you look through the spin machine you'll see that some things actually aren't.

First off some of the information is wrong. Number 2 on the list to be specific. That would be:
"2. No Tax on Winnings: Players collecting wins from The Casino is exempt from paying tax on prize monies." In the United States citizens must pay taxes on winnings above a certain amount to the IRS. While I have forgotten the particular amount (I think it's $5000) I'm absolutely certain it exists and the IRS won't care less about what some internet gaming casino has listed on their terms and conditions if you win over that amount. So, this is wrong. I don't understand why they have it on there as it's unnecessary information, but they do. My only guess is maybe they are trying to say that the casino doesn't have to pay the tax on prize monies given, which would be true, however that isn't what it says, and what it does say is wrong. Just ask the IRS.

You must be 21 to play. People from Australia or Singapore can not play in this casino.

Have your documentation ready. Even better, make sure they have every ounce of proof they need to show that you are who you are before the competition. If they already have your documentation confirmed you will get your money within an hour of winning. Otherwise you have a week for them to get it before having your account suspended.

They don't want you to go, so they make it hard if you want to: "Upon receipt of a written request signed by a Player, The Casino shall cancel a Username and Password."

We really mean everything we say, unless we don't. "While considerable care has been taken in compiling and updating content on the Site, The Casino does not guarantee the accuracy of such content. To the magnitude permitted by law The Casino excludes all warranties in relation to the content and is not liable for any damage, loss, cost or expense incurred by any person using the Site." They do not guarantee the accuracy of the site content. What about the content of the terms and conditions? Can they guarantee the accuracy of that?

Bonuses

Phoenician Casino has a nice balance between the bonuses and the competitions and drawings. The competitions and drawings are identical to Nostalgia, so there's no point in recreating the wheel and re-writing that section. However their sign up bonus is different. They are offering a tiered bonus for new players on their first three deposits:

• The initial welcome bonus is a 100% matching bonus with a minimum of $20 deposit and a maximum of $100.
• The second deposit bonus is a 50% matching bonus with a minimum of $20 deposit and a maximum of $600.
• The third deposit bonus is a 25% matching bonus with a minimum of $20 deposit and a maximum of $3200.

Their drawings and competitions are as follows:

• Super Saturday – Cash prize drawing every 30 minutes
• Power Power Poker – Sundays play Jacks or Better Power Poker
• Turbo Charged Tuesdays – Play Five Reel Drive and win.
• Wild Wednesdays – Cash prize drawing every 30 minutes
• Thursday Thunder – Play Thunderstruck Slots and win.
• Blackjack Bonanza – Monthly tournament

Phoenician casino seems have an issue with full-disclosure. On their Rewards page they mention loyalty points and state the following: "The more you play, the more we pay! Bonus points are paid out in units of 1,000. Redeem 1,000 points for $10 or redeem 5,000 points for $50! Our Silver, Gold and Platinum VIP members can redeem their Rewards at a higher rate - meaning more cash every week." The thing is, they can't actually tell me what a player has to do to get a point. You know, the points that are redeemed for cash? Most casinos say something along the lines of "If you play such and such games you get this many points, yadda yadda yadda…" not here. Here you have no idea what you do to get points or how to get to a higher level and get more points. I don't see any incentive whatsoever to be a part of their loyalty program.

Promotional Terms and Conditions

This was actually in their Terms and Conditions but it's regarding bonuses so I'm throwing it in here. Phoenician Casino gives you a "bonus account" which they SAY is just like your regular account and you just play from that account until you make your wagering requirements. Sounds easy enough right? Then they slip in the following: "The player is required to meet the minimum level of play requirement for the promotion by playing in the bonus account. Once the minimum level of play requirement is met, the player may transfer their accrued winnings (less the bonus amount) to their real account." In other words the bonus is sticky. You NEVER get to cash it out, only the winnings. Oh there's more – the minimum transfer to your regular account is 50 credits (50 credits equal $50).  

Not surprisingly (as the bonus is sticky) wagering requirements are rather low. The wagering requirement on "most games" is 15 times the bonus plus deposit. The following games have a 45 times bonus plus deposit requirement: Blackjack (except Vegas Strip Blackjack), Roulette, and all Poker games. On the other hand these games aren't counted at all: Craps, Baccarat and Vegas Strip Blackjack.

Once you get a bonus you must meet the terms and conditions before being able to cash out.

I really liked this paragraph in the description of the bonus account: "What's even better is that if you hit that elusive Royal Flush or 5 Line Payout - once you meet your minimum level of play, it's yours to keep! So unlike other bonus systems that only let you play your bonus winnings in your bonus account, you can transfer your winnings into real money!" Guess what? If you hit that elusive Royal Flush or 5 Line Payout in any internet gaming casino it would be yours to keep once you met the wagering requirements. That's why it's called WINNINGS. They did such a nice job on wording the spin it almost passes you by as something special. Awww.

Download version

What can I say? It's a Microgaming casino in all of its glory. I tried to log in as a Guest User and kept getting an error so I logged out and tried again, success this time, no reason to contact customer service. The casino is typical of all Microgaming casinos. You have Playcheck in the upper left corner that gives you your game history for the past 72 hours. Playcheck is updated every 45 minutes. Next to it is an option to view your banking history, see payout percentage reports, link to news, and loyalty program. They have the best game options of any casino software design company.

Browser version

Microgaming does a great Flash casino for the internet. Some of the slots games offer the same expert mode options as their download counterparts (autoplay, 5 times and, 10 times automatic spins).  This is probably the best browser version I have seen in terms of closeness to the download version. Typically they are worlds apart.

Overall

What a fun site to read, again. The payout percentage is good, the bonus selection – is better than Nostalgia for the initial bonus at least. There's a nice selection of competitions and drawings. When I wrote about Nostalgia Casino I figured that there weren't many people playing in the drawings as everything on the casino makes it seem as it it's only been around since January 2005. However, most likely they have been around longer. The overall impression on the message boards was ok. I'd give them a go just because their odds are good and they had a good reputation when they were RTG (which is extremely rare).